While the team, Tennessee, has yet again exited the March Madness tournament, their cheerleaders set the internet on fire with pictures that were ablaze with excitement.
The Vols’ latest loss came at the hands of 9-seed Florida Atlantic. The occasion highlighted Rick Barnes’ disappointment in the NCAA tournament, as this was the second time in five years that his team has lost in the regional semifinals.
Unsurprisingly, to date, Tennesse has never made it to the final four of the tournament.
While some players didn’t do what was required of them to move forward in the NCAA Tournament, Tennessee’s cheerleaders did everything they could to keep the team’s morale high.
Before the match, selfies of the adorable cheerleaders were posted on the Vols’ official cheerleading Instagram account.
The audience could not get enough of the cheerleaders, so after identifying their personal favorites; they blew up their personal Instagram accounts.
Photos of the girls wearing orange and white outfits with ‘VOLS’ written on the front of their tops went viral on social media for all the right reasons.
Some photos featured the orange and white pom-poms floating in the air as part of the cheerleading ceremony.
Although the state of Tennessee basketball team is abysmal, their cheerleading squad was undoubtedly the best and the brightest amongst all the teams.
Unfortunately, despite getting the guidance and coaching of Barnes, the team has never been able to advance past the Sweet 16 of the tournament.
Exploring Tennessee history in NCAA
For the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament, Rick Barnes and Tennessee exited March Madness without surpassing the Sweet 16.
The team’s latest loss came at the hands of Florida Atlantic. Tennessee, which entered the 2023 NCAA Tournament as the top-rated defensive team in the country, couldn’t get its offense going in the defensive slugfest.
Rick Barnes, the team’s current head coach, showed his disappointment over the latest loss.
The team desperately needs Barnes to do something magical as he did with Texas and Elite Eight.
Under his leadership, Barnes led Texas into the Final Four in 2003 and the Elite Eight in 2006 and 2008.
Moreover, four of Barnes and Tennessee’s five NCAA Tournament losses have come by teams ranked at least five seed lines below the Volunteers.
What’s more upsetting about the team’s current state of affairs is that the Volunteers have lost five straight NCAA Tournament games to lower-seeded teams in the past six years under Barnes.
The fans have started questioning Barnes’ ability to be the head coach.
Some people have blatantly accused him of the team’s consecutive losses and think he is no longer worthy of being Tennessee’s head coach.
At some point in the foreseeable future, Tennessee is going to need to make some tough decisions about Barnes.
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